Website: Nightswimming

Founded: 1994

Location:

Distillery Historic District
55 Mill Street, #310
The Case Goods Warehouse
Toronto, Ontario
M5A 3C4

Contact Information:

Artistic Director: Brian Quirt
Contact by Email
Telephone - (416) 504.3898

Producer: Rupal Shah
Contact by Email
Telephone - 416-703-5491

Mandate: Nightswimming is a dramaturgical company which develops new Canadian plays, performance works and dance, but does not produce them itself. Nightswimming commissions, develops and workshops these projects and seeks out established theatre companies as partners in an extended developmental process leading to production by our partner companies. Nightswimming is devoted, through the creation of these new works, to advancing the field of dramaturgy and play development in Canada; it pursues projects that use poetic text, music and choreographic movement; and is particularly interested in the process of adaptation from existing works of literature and non-fiction.

Membership: We are not a membership organization; Nightswimming does not accept unsolicited manuscripts

Serving: Over 2000 artist, dramturges, theatre makers and community members across North America. We distribute a bi-monthly e-newsletter

Other Staff: One dramaturgy intern

• Commissioning theatre, dance and music.
  
• Play development by way of readings and workshops, high calibre casts, extensive research, and on-going dramaturgical support.
  
• Seeking established theatres to carry the work through to production.
  
• Pure Research: an innovative program designed to foster creative investigation of specific issues in performance. Annual application date in late fall. See website for more information.

Through the Eyes by Don Druick. Commissioned and developed by Nightswimming in 1995. A new production at Factory Theatre in January 2003 received the Dora Award for Richard McMillan's outstanding performance. It will be remounted in May 2004 and tour to the Magnetic North Festival in Edmonton.

Julia Sasso's Beauty is a full-length choreographic work co-commissioned by Nightswimming, Harbourfront Centre and Julia Sasso Dances. Brian acted as dramaturg throughout the 15-week development period leading up to its premiere at the prestigious Canada Dance Festival in Ottawa in 2002. The piece was expanded for its acclaimed run at Harbourfront's Premiere Dance Theatre in 2003. Beauty shows Nightswimming's commitment to supporting a range of performing artists, and our desire to work extensively with dance and music as well as theatre.

The Whirlpool adapted by Brian Quirt from the novel by Jane Urquhart. Choreographed by Julia Sasso. Developed by Nightswimming, premiered by the Tarragon Theatre in 2000 and published by Playwrights' Canada Press in 2001, The Whirlpool is an experiment in adaptation and in integrating narrative dance with theatre. Featuring a fully choreographed staging and extensive original music, this unique combination stretched the boundaries of conventional storytelling by making movement and sound equal to text. "One of the most original dramas in years..." Maclean's Magazine.

An Acre of Time by Jason Sherman: nominated for the Governor General's Award for Drama in 2001, this new play was commissioned by Nightswimming in 1997, premiered by Great Canadian Theatre Company in Ottawa in 2000, and then produced by Tarragon in 2001. Acre is an example of Nightswimming's partnerships with multiple theatres, and a demonstration of how our long-term development model works.